This Cranberry Bakewell Tart is a delicious winter tart with a sweet pastry base, a layer of cranberry jam or marmalade, soft almond frangipane studded with fresh cranberries and topped with flaked almonds. It has a great balance between the sweet frangipane and the sour cranberries. For this recipe I used Filligans Christmas Marmalade. Other great choices include Morans Mega Jam’s Cranberry Sauce , Wexford Home Preserves Cranberry Sauce, G’s Gourmet Jams Cranberry and Port Sauce.
We can break this recipe down into 3 simple steps;
This recipe starts with a block of sweet pastry. In this recipe, we use a simple sweet shortcrust pastry recipe, also known as Pâte sucrée. You can grab my recipe for it, here. You can also use store bought for this, Just Rol sells an excellent sweet shortcrust pastry, as does Irish brand Rollit which is available in Supervalu and will be available in the Simply Better range soon in Dunnes Stores.
Take your chilled pastry and place onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out evenly to about the thickness of a coin. Line up your tin to make sure you have rolled it out wide enough to cover the bottom of the tin and the sides. Lightly dust the top of the pastry with flour. Using a rolling pin, gently roll the pastry onto the pin. Gently lift the rolling pin over the tart tin and unroll it carefully. Lift the sides of the pastry up and gently press into the corners. Once you have fitted the pastry into the corners, press into the edges of the pastry to trim the excess off. You can use a sharp knife for this too.
Place into the fridge to chill while you prepare the frangipane filling.
This is a super simple almond frangipane recipe flavoured with almond essence. Frangipane is a soft almond cake like batter. To make this frangipane, we begin by adding the room temperature butter and sugar. Beat this together for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the ground almonds and mix until combined. Add the eggs and mix again for a further minute or two until combined. Stir in the almond essence and flour and continue mixing until you have fully incorporated everything.
Once you have prepared the frangipane we remove the pastry from the fridge. Take a couple tablespoons of cranberry sauce/jam/marmalade and spread evenly over the base of the raw pastry. Spread all of the frangipane evenly on top. Scatter the cranberries over the frangipane and lightly press them down. Sprinkles flaked almonds all over the tart. Bake for 45-60 minutes until golden brown all over. Allow to cool fully before removing from the tin.
To store leftover bakewell tart. tightly wrap in cling film or place into an airtight container. Store in the fridge or in a cool room for up to 5 days.
Yes! Portion any leftovers into slices. Wrap each slice in clingfilm or place into an airtight container or ziploc bag. Freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, remove a slice from the freezer and leave at room temperature for 30-40 minutes until thawed.
Although they are similar, frangipane is a cake like batter that is made with ground almonds. It is used as a filling for bakewell tarts. Bakewell tart refers to the entire tart, including the pastry, jam and frangipane.
Frangipane is made from creamed butter, sugar, ground almonds, eggs and sometimes almond essence and flour.
They are not the same thing. While they are both almond based, frangipane is a tart filling that needs to be baked to become edible. Marzipan is an edible almond paste that can be used to create edible decorations.
Generally, I don’t blind bake my pastry for bakewell tarts. This is because the frangipane takes 45-60 minutes to cook properly. The pastry would over cook if you blind baked it and baked it again with the frangipane. It is also a generally dry mix compared to a fruit filling so it doesn’t create a soggy base when cooking.
You can use either! Whatever you have on hand will work, fresh or frozen cranberries as long as they are whole.
For more recipes that use frangipane, check out my Rhubarb Bakewell , Apple Almond Squares and Roast Plum Bakewell Tart recipes.
For more Pastry Recipes, check out my Pastry Category, here.
Light, fluffy muffins with bursts of juicy blackberries.
A small batch version of the classic dessert of sweetened cooked apples and blackberries topped…
Easy, 5 ingredient peach and raspberry compote. Perfect for filling cakes, macarons, pavlovas, cupcakes etc.
Simple vanilla cake with peaches and raspberries
Easy, make ahead breakfast using granola, yoghurt of your choice and stewed rhubarb
Gorgeous, buttery scones with a crispy exterior and a soft, fluffy interior flavoured with bursts…